2012 Holiday Photo Challenge!

WOW, is it already mid November? MY goodness. I can’t even believe it. You know what that means, right? Yes, time to share your holiday photos!

What is this Holiday Photo Challenge you ask? Well, it’s a chance to share a holiday photo you’d already be taking and have a chance to win big prizes! Yup! Guess what? The prizes are pretty crazy this year…. here you go…. are. you. ready? I mean… I want to win!

Prizes: There will be 3 big winners! When the challenge closes, the top 40 photos will be chosen by myself. From there, the judges and I will pick the Grand Prize winner and 1st place winner. The readers (that’s you) will also choose a favorite from the top 40!

Grand Prize: Amazon Kindle Fire HD 16GB!!!

First Place: Fuji Instax 210 Wide instant camera + 40 exposures!

Reader’s Fave: Canon Lens Coffee Mug + Macro Cell Lens band (works on most cell phones)!

AND, as usual… I’d like to share our Christmas Photo for 2012. Hopefully it will inspire you. This time we went a different route for our photo. Ha! Maybe a little more PG-13 than the last couple of years. You know Elf on the Shelf, yes? We decided to incorporate this into our card this year. Inspired by the movie “Alien”, we thought the elf should pop out of my husbands chest. Ha! Soooo Christmasy. Perhaps the Peppermint Schnapps was expired?

This card was actually a blend of 5 different photos. I’ll be sure to share how I did it next week.

Some more inspiration for you…. here’s last year’s top 10 winners (top 3 are pictured below), and some photo inspiration here or here.

{Last years winners: Luvin’ Life, Ashley Sisk, and Six Cherries On Top}

What am I looking for? WELL I want to see your holiday photo for this year. Doesn’t matter if you don’t celebrate Christmas… whatever you celebrate in December, I’d like to see (Festivus?). You can edit the photo as much (or as little) as you’d like. Add wording, or not. Let’s see it!

Rules. Yup, there has to be rules.

– Only ONE entry per person.

– The photo MUST be taken by you (or, a family member). What I mean: no professional photos that you didn’t take.

– You are MORE than welcome to use any photo editing program. Edit away! If you do any edits/add anything to the photo, it must be done by you.

– Keep all photos PG-13. Please. Animals, humans, etc should NOT be harmed in the making of your photo. No nudity. Nada.

– You don’t have to have people/animals in the photo. Maybe an ornament? Stuffed Santa? It’s up to you.

– Please, do not link to a facebook page. I’m unable to actually view the photo. You can share a link on your blog, tumblr, or flickr. A Tumblr can easily be started for free.

UPDATE: I will also accept entries in your instagram! How to enter with instagram: you post your photo to instagram, and find the URL to that photo online (one way st to login on Followgram). Make sure to grab the specific photo’s URL and link it to the link up below (must be in the link up to be entered). Also, you need to put @thepapermama and #HPHOLIDAYPHOTO in the comments. If you’re taking a photo OF a photo, be sure it’s clear and easy to see!

– All entries MUST link back to this Holiday Photo Challenge post. You can grab a button below, or just link to this post’s URL. Thanks!

– When the challenge closes, the top 40 photos will be chosen by myself. From there, the judges and I will pick the Grand Prize winner and 1st place winner. The readers (that’s you) will also choose a favorite from the top 40. That’s 3 prize winners!

– Top 40 photos are chosen based on MANY different things. No need to be a professional photographer, you can do it!

– If you enter this challenge: All photos entered into my Holiday Photo Challenge may/will be shared on a blog post(s), on The Paper Mama blog. There will always be a link back to the photographer’s URL that was shared.

– I have the right to delete or disqualify any entrant, if I feel it doesn’t follow the rules.

– The last day to enter a photo is December 17th, 2012.

Alright! When you’re ready, link your photos below… (be sure to link directly to the URL your photo is posted on). Post any questions in the comments below! Have fun!

– Chelsey

P.S. ONE more thing. My holiday photo this year (yup, the crazy one with the elf bursting out of my husband’s chest…), is also taking part in The Inappropriate Elf contest, from Baby Rabies. If you aren’t quite sure what that is… check it out. ANOTHER chance to win some amazing prizes.

Link up your entry below: